KIER, LARRY GENE

Remains Identified 03/08/02

Name: Larry Gene Kier
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 29 September 1949 (Shenandoah IA)
Home City of Record: Omaha NE
Date of Loss: 06 May 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163840N 1065600E (YD081411)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1613

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2020.

Other Personnel In Incident: Refugio T. Teran (missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Every week while he was in Vietnam, Refugio Teran got a package
from his mother containing 30 pounds of oatmeal, canned fruit and sugar,
which Teran gave to a Vietnamese family near the base where he was
stationed.

On May 4, "in the world", National Guardsmen had been called in to control
rioting at Kent State and then Governor Ronald Reagan ordered California
universities closed for the rest of the week.

During the night of May 5, 1970 (12 hours in time behind Vietnam time), Mrs.
Anna Teran woke up screaming, knowing she would lose her son.

On May 6, 1970, PFC Larry G. Kier and PFC Refugio T. Teran were assigned to
separate companies of the 101st Airborne Division as riflemen defending an
artillery fire support base in South Vietnam.

At about 0500 hours on May 6, 1970, Viet Cong forces overran a guard station
at an ammunition dump near Henderson Hill in Quang Tri Province, South
Vietnam, killing 33 Americans. Kier and Teran were last seen running toward
a barricade, and when not seen again, were presumed dead. Kier's position
was reportedly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), and then napalm
ignited in his location which was leaking from a nearby position. PFC Teran
had been located in another firing position along the camp perimeter.

The next day, a graves registration detail collecting bodies was unable to
find any trace of Kier and Teran. Five others in the unit who had been
believed dead were found alive, but injured.

When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, Kier and Teran were
not among them. There has been no word surface about them since they
disappeared.

Since 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been given to the U.S. Government
regarding Americans still in Southeast Asia. Some have withstood the
"closest scrutiny" possible, and cannot be disputed. There is very strong
reason to believe that Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia
today.

Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 Americans who did not
come home from Vietnam can easily be accounted for, dead or alive. We, as a
nation, must turn our immediate attention to those who are alive and do
everything possible to secure their freedom.

===============================

LEAGUE UPDATE:  March 7, 2002 

AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR:  According to the Department of Defense, there are
now 1,936 Americans still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
Most recently, remains jointly recovered in June, 1994, were identified as
Air Force Colonels Peter M. Cleary of CT and Leonardo C. Leonor of NY, both
listed as MIA October 10, 1972 in North Vietnam.  Also recently identified
were Army SSGs Larry G. Kier of NB and Rufugio T. Teran of MI, missing in a
South Vietnam ground incident since May 6, 1970.  Local villagers initially
provided remains in August 1992; joint operations resulted in further
information and remains.  Others recently accounted for include Air Force
Col William C. Coltman of PA and LtCol Robert A. Brett, Jr., of OR, missing
in Laos since September 29, 1972, with remains jointly recovered August 28,
2000.

===========
The Richardson Funeral Home
03/28/02

Sargeant Larry Gene Kier, Omaha, NE.
Company A, 2nd. Battalion
501st. Inafantry 101st Airborne Division

Born Sept. 29, 1949  Died May 6, 1970 Republic of South Vietnam.  Positive
ID. by DNA......

===================================================

Tuesday, April 2, 2002, Glasgow Daily Times

Family buries soldier killed in Vietnam

OWINGSVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- ...Larry Gene Kier was buried in Owingsville on
Saturday, some 30 years after he was killed in Vietnam. Col. Ron Ray
officiated the service at Richardson Funeral Home in Bath County, where
Kier's brother, Vern, lives.....

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000vsbKuEAI

SSG LARRY GENE KIER

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On August 27, 2001, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Larry Gene Kier, missing from the Vietnam War.

Staff Sergeant Kier entered the U.S. Army from Nebraska and was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On May 6, 1970, he took part in the defense of Fire Support Base Henderson in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam, against enemy attack. He was killed by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade during the engagement. A nearby ammunition dump caught fire and the area where he fell was burned, preventing the recovery of his remains at the time. In 1996, the Vietnamese government repatriated a set of remains that U.S. analysts eventually identified as those of SSG Kier.

Staff Sergeant Kier is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.